There was once a Yang practitioner who was so bold as to suggest that Chen could not really be considered Tai Chi at all, because it didn't observe certain things seen as fundamental in his style. I can't quite remember what these might have been – but think it was probably the stomping and breaks of rhythm apparent in the Chen form. 

Well, a Chen practitioner would just laugh at this. His style has been around for centuries; its 20th generation is now practising, teaching and developing the art; Yang's “only” been around for a century and a bit.  So what does it know?

There was once a Yang practitioner who was so bold as to suggest that Chen could not really be considered Tai Chi at all, because it didn't observe certain things seen as fundamental in his style. I can't quite remember what these might have been – but think it was probably the stomping and breaks of rhythm apparent in the Chen form. 

Well, a Chen practitioner would just laugh at this.  His style has been around for centuries; its 20th generation is now practising, teaching and developing the art; Yang's “only” been around for a century and a bit. So what does it know?

I once asked a Chen master if he had studied the Yang style - so that an informed comparison might be possible. He laughed at me, saying, "Why should I learn Yang!?" So an informed, impartial, view is pretty hard to come by! Adherents of each style devote themselves so enthusiastically to that one style that they tend to have no time for the others!

Oh, and the Chen answer to the Yang suggestion? Firstly, Tai Chi is a martial art – so, naturally, the tempo may alter just as tempo in combat would alter. Secondly, what is “apparent” in Chen style (as, it is true, in others!) is the external expression; internal flow is something else again. And Chen style devotes a lot its training to developing continuous inner movement.
 
The Yang man thinks it’s important that his students get drilled so that they move in complete unison.  (Wu, also, as seen on Rannoch Moor!) and thereby give up his ego and absorb the correct tempo for transitions from one position to another through the form.  And a good argument this is, too!  But the Chen man retorts that students are all different, that they won’t all move the same way or with exactly the same dynamic, and that it is the essence or principles of the art that need to be absorbed not the uniformity of the outward show. And a good argument this is, too, also!

But still the Yang man is amazed by all the stomping and pounding and high kicking in Chen. What on earth is all this about? The Yang man can tell you of cases of serious loss of vitality in certain Yang students because they were not maintaining a good, steady, rhythm all through the form – perhaps through tightening up or speeding up at points of difficulty

Yang and Chen will, however, unite as one (well, almost!) when they hear of the emphasis of certain other styles or practitioners on being solely on health.

How can you tell, then, if you’re really doing Tai Chi or just a nice and useful (yes, useful, even!) exercise. Because, they argue, weapon forms are needed not so  much for chopping people up, as for the full development of movement and postures and the understanding of how internal energy and the body mechanics can deliver power. Or push hands – how do you know if you’re relaxed and soft in the upper body and sensitive to the external world, if you don’t test it in partner work via push hands?

But the health emphasis man has been into all this. He’s done the martial thing in his youth perhaps. He has absorbed the essentials of posture and movement and now applies that to what people want - health promotion. Anyway, he will tell you, older people are looking for a good exercise system that encourages flexibility and promotes good balance. And this is what his group want from him by way of Tai Chi. Maybe, too, he is skilled in the principle of Chinese Meridians and conversant with which movements and exercises stimulate which body organs and energies. Well, maybe so, say Chen and Yang and Wu, etc, but doesn’t that just mean that at best he’s offering a sort of Qigong – a set of health exercises. And, if so, why not just a call it that?  But the health man points out that his students are not doing Qigong during the form, because there’s no tensing and stretching during it; in addition they do do a form, because it’s a continuous set of movements, the choreography of which has to be memorised and performed smoothly as in the more martial sorts of Tai Chi

Each knows the one true way? 

Do you?

	1. 23-10-2007 00:38
	Big Have to say that i have been leading Chi Kung for a few years now only a very basic leader at that. No martial arts in my youth. However it is wonderful to see a class of people so caught up in the flow of movement that they are obliviuos to you and you virtually could be doing anything up at the front. many of them have life scars and bodies that are not quite defying gravity anymore but they feel much better and sleep really well afterwards so maybe style isnt everything its the flow, the movement the peace ahhhhh lovely Guest Report

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